Russian Adelia Petrosyan took fifth place based on the performance of the skaters in the short program in the individual tournament at the 2026 Olympics in Italy. In her short program, Petrosyan cleanly performed a double axel, triple lutz and a combination of a triple flip and triple toe loop and received 72.89 points. During the tournament, Petrosyan was in the lead, but then several skaters beat her in points.

During the latest round of talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States, held in Geneva on February 17, the political group "reached an impasse" while the military group "continued to make progress," Axios reported, citing sources. According to them, this is due to the position expressed by the head of the Russian negotiating group, Vladimir Medinsky. One source said Russian officials have complained about recent public statements by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

Iranian officials said during the first round of talks with the United States in Oman on February 6 that they were willing to transfer part of their highly enriched uranium reserves to a third party, possibly Russia, The Wall Street Journal reported on February 17, citing Iranian, Arab and American officials. As the publication notes, the highly enriched material is enough for 12 nuclear bombs.

Residents of Odessa on the evening of February 17 blocked traffic on two streets - Akademika Filatova and Inglesi, protesting that there was no electricity in their homes for a long time, local telegram channels reported ( 1 , 2 ). Judging by eyewitness videos, several dozen people blocked the roads. They walked along the road and chanted “Where is the light? Give us light! One of the motorists tried to drive along Inglesi Street, but protesters began banging on the hood of the car.

Residents of Ukraine will not accept a peace agreement, the condition of which would be the withdrawal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the Donetsk region and the transfer of this region to Russia, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in an interview with Axios. “Emotionally people will never forgive this. Never. They won’t forgive... me, they won’t forgive [the United States],” Zelensky said.

The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine took into custody former Energy Minister German Galushchenko, who is accused of money laundering, Suspilna reports on February 17. The court ruled that Galushchenko could be released from custody on bail of 200 million hryvnia (3.9 million euros). If the bail is paid, Galushchenko will have to stay within the Kyiv region and will not be allowed to communicate with other defendants in the case.

This helps create the image of a “friendly great power,” writes Bloomberg. Alamy / Vida Press Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Johannesburg, South Africa Between 2022 and 2025, the Russian Orthodox Church expanded its presence in Africa to at least 34 countries, Bloomberg writes . Previously, in sub-Saharan Africa there was only one Russian Orthodox Church church - in South Africa (the others were in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco).

The main thing from the publication "Papers" On January 30, 2026, a military court issued the first verdict in the case of embezzlement of property from a secret unit of the Ministry of Defense in the Leningrad Region. Seven servicemen, four of whom were conscripts, were accused of taking 4.6 tons of cable from the territory of the unit, burning it and handing over the copper to a scrap metal collection point. The investigation estimated the damage at 11 million rubles.

The former governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, accused of accepting bribes during the construction of fortifications on the border with Ukraine, was registered in the pre-trial detention center as “prone to suicide and self-harm.” The prosecutor stated this during a court hearing in the Leninsky District Court of Kursk, TASS reports. “Smirnov is characterized negatively,” said the state prosecutor, reading out the description of the former governor from the pre-trial detention center.

If you've been wanting to explore Singaporean life, this director's films are the perfect guide. One of the contenders for the main award at the Berlin Film Festival is the film by Singaporean director Anthony Chen “We Are All Strangers” (Wo Men Bu Shi Mo Sheng Ren). This is a film novel about a complex large family, which seems to complete the author’s trilogy, ideal for every viewer who wants to learn more about the life of Singapore. Film critic Anton Dolin tells details about this film.

The Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region opened a case of an administrative offense against rapper Ganvest (real name Ruslan Gominov), the department said in its response to a request from the head of the Safe Internet League , Ekaterina Mizulina.

It seems he was wrong Juancho Torres / Anadolu / Getty Images US Embassy in Cuba. Havana, January 2021 In 2016, the first press reports emerged of U.S. Embassy employees in Havana experiencing a sudden and unexplained set of symptoms. Later, similar manifestations began to be recorded among American civil servants in other countries of the world.

Writer and journalist Mikhail Zygar will tour North America and Europe with the reading performance “Lost Stories.” The show is based on five plays based on his new book, The Dark Side of the Earth. The plays have never been published anywhere before and will only be performed at the Lost Stories performances. Each performance will have its own unique guest - a specially invited artist.

There are disagreements within the Ukrainian delegation participating in the peace talks over how quickly an agreement with Russia should be concluded, The Economist writes. One side, led by the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, believes that “the interests of Ukraine are best served by an early conclusion of an agreement under American leadership.” This part of the delegation fears that the time will soon pass when the necessary measures can be taken.

A comprehensive study that lacks just one detail The publishing house of the bookstore “Babel” published Mikhail Bashkirov’s book “Illuminations of Lightning. The true story of the shaman Alexander Gabyshev, who wanted, but could not, expel the demon from the Kremlin.” Its author is an anthropologist and documentary filmmaker who specializes in the study of Siberia.